


Auld Lang Syne

by revamped



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, mentions of the other 7, mostly nico-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-13 22:37:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9145300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revamped/pseuds/revamped
Summary: “College changes people, Nico,” he said calmly, like he hadn’t just come out to someone he’s known since he was a kid and Nico was nothing more than a pest waving around his Pokémon cards and trying to keep his head above the water. “In a way, it’s sort of like celebrating the new year over and over again.”aka that New Year's Eve fic nobody asked for but was written anyway.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Instead of properly celebrating New Year's Eve, I decided 11:30pm on the last night of 2016 was a great time to start a project. That project spanned into this unbeta'd, unwieldy monster in which I peck at my keyboard vaguely internally screaming about how to write Nico. Anyway, happy new year, and enjoy!

If he had his way, Nico wouldn’t even be here. In fact, if he had his way, Nico would probably already be shut away in his room by now in the dark with the glow of his TV playing some B-list horror movie in the background while he studied (or fooled himself into thinking he was studying at any rate.) But like most things in his life, Nico hardly ever got his way and instead of being in the solace of his own space, he found himself sitting in a chair in the corner of his father’s house while the New Year’s Eve party escalated both in size and volume.

Coming home for winter break also hadn’t exactly been Nico’s idea, but like most things lately he did it for Hazel. Hazel was still in high school and since Nico started college that fall the half-siblings hadn’t spent much time together. Nico had vetoed the idea of coming home for Thanksgiving, but the convincing from Hazel (not to mention the fact that his dorm kicked him out for a few weeks) meant coming back to his father’s house for Christmas and the new year. 

It was mostly his father’s business associates and their families. There were a few kids Nico’s age but no one he really felt the pressing need to socialize with. Hazel had disappeared somewhere with Frank, her boyfriend, roughly an hour ago and judging by the large grandfather clock in the foyer they still had another hour to go before midnight. As for his father and his stepmother? They were off entertaining their guests, but every time Nico tried to get up to leave somehow one of them would miraculously round the corner and give him a tight smile and a look that told him he absolutely wasn’t allowed to disappear just yet.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if his own friends were able to come by. The trouble with it all was that Jason and Piper had fled the cold, bitter New York winter for sunny California to spend the holidays with Piper’s dad. Leo and Calypso were in Texas for the holidays as well. Nico knew that if he asked, Will Solace would come by in a heartbeat, but he also knew that Will’s father had a rare evening off to spend with his family. Selfish though he may be, Nico didn’t want to be _that_ selfish. (Never mind the text message he drafted asking Will to come over anyway…) Reyna was another option, but she was spending her evening with her sister. 

Sometimes...Nico had to curse the way family made things impossible. 

Slumping in his chair, he turned his body so that his legs dangled over one of the chair’s arms while his head lolled over the other. His fingers sneaked their way into the pocket of his black jeans, unearthing his phone before glancing around and switching off the volume. Nobody at the party seemed to be paying attention to him at this point which was perfectly fine by Nico. Stretching out his arm, he thumbed through the applications before opening Snapchat and snagging a photo of himself. Appropriately bored and exhausted as usual. Nobody should be surprised by this.

_’Will the new year be more interesting?’_

It was almost automatic how his fingers moved to send the photo to Jason, Piper, Will, Reyna and Hazel. It was truly a productive waste of five minutes. He paused long enough to sit up and peer around the corner, finding himself locking eyes with his stepmother before slumping back in his chair. There were still fifty minutes until midnight. If he had to stay down here for fifty more minutes, he’d have to find a way to entertain himself.

...twenty minutes and five dollars later found Nico hanging upside down in his chair, staring blankly at an empty Pokémon field while his avatar idled. So far he had caught two Charmanders, a Bulbasaur, a Tauros, and three Eevees. Nothing new popped up for a while and Nico was sorely tempted to close the app and find something else to do when his eyes veered to the right of his screen. The shape was abnormal, a round ball with little wisps coming from the side, but he recognized that shadow anywhere.

If he had to stay downstairs, the least the universe could do for him was allow him to catch a wild Gastly. Sitting up and nearly stumbling to his feet, Nico kept his eyes glued to his phone as he began to walk through the house and follow the indicator to where his Gastly would be hiding. Over the years, Nico had grown good at navigating his way through crowds without looking up. Tonight was no different as he passed by women in fancy evening gowns and waiters in suits, ignoring the fact he was only wearing a Punisher t-shirt and in hot pursuit of a pixelated ghost monster. Nothing was going to stop him on his hunt. Nothing was going to come between him and--

“There you are,” he muttered, eyes transfixed on the screen as he clicked the monster to engage it in battle. He flicked the screen once, cursing softly when Gastly broke free from the Pokéball before trying to lure it with a raspberry. It took another two tries, but the ball shook once, twice, three times...and Gastly was caught. Nico smiled to himself, more than pleased as the Pokémon registered itself to his Pokédex.

“Nice, dude. Mine ran away,” a voice said from over his shoulder. There was a sound almost like a startled, hissing cat (that Nico later realized came from _him_ ) as he jumped and spun around, staring up at the newcomer. His eyes widened, though he was grateful he didn’t do something _really_ embarrassing like let his jaw drop.

The boy in front of him was taller by a good five or six inches, sea-green eyes dancing with amusement as he slipped his own phone back into the pocket of his ratty jeans. A dark blue t-shirt with white Greek letters for some fraternity hugged his chest in all the right places, a matching blue hoodie thrown over it. Even his hair had a blue tint in it the longer Nico stared at him, taking in the tanned skin that always seemed to glow as if he’d spent a day at the beach and the perfect white teeth that made up his smile.

Percy Jackson was, in fact, the bane of his existence. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked without thinking, immediately embarrassed by his outburst. Percy chuckled in response, nodding toward Nico’s phone. 

“Same thing as you. Unless you mean ‘what am I doing in your house’, in which case I came with my dad.” 

Somehow, Nico should have expected that. Percy’s father and his father were business associates whose partnership dated back several years. The first time Nico had met Percy was eight years ago when Nico had just turned ten and a thirteen-year-old Percy had just been expelled from his seventh school. 

Percy Jackson was a problem as far as Nico was concerned. Where did he get off being so admirable and funny and brave...and handsome...and charming...and pretty much everything Nico would like in a guy? The real problem was that it was hard not to like Percy. Even with his troublemaker streak, he was still someone who tried to treat Nico like an equal whenever he saw him and in turn Nico started to think of Percy as a friend. Before Percy went off to college three years ago, he had been around and had been best friends with Nico’s mutual friends. Somehow or another, they always hung out in a large group. Jason and Percy stayed in touch through their college years and on occasion Jason would drop Nico an email or a text with updates on the great Percy Jackson, or send him a Snapchat of the two of them hanging out during their mutual school breaks.

Jason Grace was, sometimes unintentionally, an asshole. Jason knew all about his fleeting crush on Percy that he’d managed to outgrow by the time Percy graduated. Jason also knew that Nico was full of shit every time he said he was completely over it. Nico really had a hard time getting over it when Percy made an effort to stay in touch with him when he first went away to college. Nico would never really be over it. Not when every time he saw Percy his stomach still tied itself into knots. 

It wasn’t that Percy was flawless. The boy was still completely immature at times and sometimes Nico found himself rolling his eyes in disgust. Joining a frat hadn’t been Percy’s greatest idea, but he knew that if anyone belonged to one it was someone like Percy who functioned best with a lot of close friends. It would also be a lie to say that college didn’t do Percy some good, given the fact he still looked like a business-casual skater.

All of these thoughts ever-so-conveniently made their way back to the front of Nico’s mind as he continued to stare at Percy. To his credit, Percy was quiet even as he rewarded Nico with a lopsided smile and a tilt of his head. 

“I thought you’d be spending New Year’s with your mom.” Nico knew that Percy and Sally were close. Percy wrinkled his nose in response, though he continued to smile.

“Change of plans. Paul surprised her with tickets for a second honeymoon on Christmas. They’re off in the Bahamas and I’m…” He waved a hand, as if to say “I’m stuck here.” Nico could understand that. Percy and Nico were similar that way where neither boy really dealt well with being restrained or forced into doing things they didn’t want to do. On the other hand, while Percy rolled with the punches, Nico had a tendency to hold grudges. 

It was just one more place that he and Percy differed, among other things. For another moment he continued to hold Percy’s gaze before allowing his eyes to drop to his feet as he locked the homescreen on his phone. 

“Can I get you anything?” Despite the fact he didn’t want to be here, he still had _some_ manners instilled in him from when he was young and living with his mother. “I don’t think Alecto will allow me to serve alcohol, but we have sparkling cider, I think?” 

Percy lifted both eyebrows, eyes lighting up suddenly at the offer. “I can do with cider.” He paused, glancing around as though he didn’t wish to be overheard. “Between you and me I probably need to give my liver a break anyway. Two glasses of cider then?” 

At first, Nico didn’t understand why Percy would need two glasses for himself. It wasn’t until Percy nodded toward the door leading to a balcony that he understood the implication and he stiffly nodded, turning on his heel to flag down a member of the waitstaff and trying to control his breathing. He had no reason to be nervous. It was just Percy Jackson. It was just Percy Jackson, hometown hero and boy wonder. Percy Jackson who was the star of his high school’s swim team, nominated for prom court with his then-girlfriend Annabeth Chase on his arm and accepted to NYU on a full-ride athletic scholarship. Percy Jackson...who probably only wanted to hang out with Nico because everyone else was much older, more boring, or both. He could accept that though. Nico had grown used to being someone in the background and never really having a place to stick outside of his closest friends. Anything was better than spending another dollar on pokéballs. 

By the time Nico stepped out onto the balcony with two flutes of sparkling cider in his hands, Percy had made himself comfortable leaning on the railing and staring out at the New York skyline. It was easier to see the stars out here since Nico’s father’s house was outside of the city itself and when Percy turned to take his glass, his free hand pointed up.

“Check it out. That one’s called Cetus.” He seemed proud of himself even as he took the glass from Nico’s hand, nodding in thanks. Craning his head back, Nico looked up at the sky and squinted at the stars. He couldn’t tell the difference between most of the stars but he nodded along anyway.

“Where’d you learn that?” 

“Annabeth,” came the simple answer. Nico suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Annabeth Chase. Actually, it was the opposite of that. Annabeth took time warming up to him, but after a few years she became one of his trusted advisers when it came to school work. She’s the one who helped him through the college application process which was something he was immensely grateful for. No, the exasperation came from the fact that Percy hardly ever seemed to learn anything on his own without Annabeth’s help. Even though they had been broken up for a year and a half now, they were still close.

“How is she?” he asked to be polite, even though he’s fairly certain he’d heard from Piper that she was heading to Argentina for studying abroad.

“She’s fine.” Percy paused to take a sip of his cider, staring at the sky again. “Getting ready to head to Peru for a few months. She’s spending the holiday with her dad before catching a plane tomorrow.” 

It didn’t make a lot of sense to him why Percy of all people would only have his father to hang out with during New Year’s Eve. At the same time though he seemed content and more relaxed out here with Nico, licking the rim of his glass before he continued. “Probably the first year that most of us are split up for winter break.” 

“Yeah. Jason and Piper are--well, you probably talked to Jason, huh?” 

“Yeah. I Facetimed him and Piper earlier today. They were getting ready to go to Disneyland for the evening.” 

Somehow that didn’t surprise Nico either. He’d never been to Disneyland, but he sort of thought the idea was nice. The idea was especially nice when one imagined it with a boyfriend, but that was definitely a thought Nico wouldn’t entertain. He finally took a drink from his own glass in lieu of answering. 

Percy had spent years around Nico though and had grown used to learning how to fill in the silence. “How’s college? How’re the guys there?”

They both cringed simultaneously as the words left Percy’s mouth, awkwardly staring at their drinks instead of at each other. 

Percy...knew. Percy knew that Nico had a preference toward men, had known for a few years now, and never really made a big deal out of it save for some fumbling such as now. Maybe that was just another one of the reasons Nico liked Percy as much as he did. Percy never made things like that a big deal. Nico hadn’t meant to come out to him the way that he had, but it was also Percy’s own fault for not knocking while he was explaining the situation to Jason the summer after their first year in college and the summer after Nico broke up with his first boyfriend. Percy, thankfully, had backed out of that conversation rather quickly, but he also never brought it up again save for a few smiles every now and then when he caught Nico staring at people. 

He never told Percy that he had a crush on him. It never felt like the right time and after a while it really didn’t matter too much. They were both grown up and attended different schools. Percy had Annabeth, and even when he didn’t have Annabeth he was pretty damn sure Percy wouldn’t want him either. It bothered him less and less until it didn’t bother him at all.

This, though...this was something he hadn’t been prepared to discuss with an old crush fifteen minutes to midnight standing on a balcony as a cool chill filtered through the night air. 

“College is college.” Nico shrugged, plaintively ignoring the way Percy licked his lips to gather up any lingering cider. “The new semester starts when I get back to school, my roommate’s sort of an asshole and...I don’t know. About guys. The guys. Guys at Ithaca.” A challenging expression crossed his features then as he lifted his head, raising both eyebrows. “Why, how are the girls at NYU?” Surely Percy had to realize how awkward the question was.

“About the same as the guys, I guess.” Percy drained the rest of his glass, twirling the stem between his fingers as he flashed another crooked smile. Leave it to Percy to not only take the question in stride, but also:

“I. Did you just--?”

“College changes people, Nico,” he said calmly, like he hadn’t just come out to someone he’s known since he was a kid and Nico was nothing more than a pest waving around his Pokémon cards and trying to keep his head above the water. “In a way, it’s sort of like celebrating the new year over and over again.” 

“That doesn’t even make any sense,” Nico practically groaned in frustration, a hand coming up to thread through his hair. His mind whirled in several directions with several unasked questions, but the only one that kept coming back to him was one he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to. “What about Annabeth? You dated her since you were, like, fourteen.” 

“Sixteen, and she knows. I’m pretty sure she figured it out before I did.” Percy had the grace to appear sheepish. “I still like her, she’s still my best friend and I’m always going to love her, but...I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.” 

“But it’s easy to tell me you’re bi after not talking to me for months?” Nico couldn’t help but sound as incredulous as he felt. Percy shrugged, staring down into his empty glass like he was hoping it’d refill itself. Nico’s own glass felt heavier suddenly. “Go back a sec. What do you mean it’s sort of like celebrating the new year over and over again?” 

Percy shifted to lean with his back against the railing, hands in his pockets as he faced Nico and contemplated how to explain such a thing. “It’s like...you know how in the new year everybody makes resolutions to be a better or a different person, or to do better and different things? Or how people try to make the most of life and try out things they’ve never tried before? College is like that. Every day you wake up thinking of all of the ways you can change your world and change yourself by doing different things and embracing different things you want to experience. I wanted to start watching foreign films to have something to talk about with Annabeth, and I found that French films are funny, German films are depressing, and trying to read all films in English still gives me a headache.” He grinned like that was supposed to be a joke, but Nico knew it was partially true thanks to Percy’s struggles with dyslexia. “I wanted to see if things would be the same if I tried dating a guy and it’s just as much work as dating a girl. So. I’m living every day being grateful to be alive and think about how I can make things better.” 

Nico remained silent for a long time, the confused stare still permanently etched into his features before he finally found his voice. “Are you drunk? Is that what this is?” 

“What?” It was Percy’s turn to be confused. “No, man, I’m serious. Look I know it’s weird and sudden but I figured you would kind of get where I’m coming from with this? I don’t know, this is still new and I haven’t told my mom yet and I don’t know if Jason can handle having two out of three of his bros being into other bros and _my_ bros at the frat are pretty hit and miss and. Yeah.” Percy finally stopped talking, pressing his lips together into a thin line before lifting his hands in a shrug. 

“...your mom’s not going to care,” Nico finally said just to get it out of the way. “Would she care if you got kicked off the swim team or hospitalized for alcohol poisoning? She’d really care about that. But I don’t think she’ll care about who you decide to date if you’re happy.” 

“Are you happy?” Percy asked abruptly, jarring Nico from his carefully planned speech. He didn’t know how to respond, caught up in the imploring look Percy was giving him as if he could read everything in Nico’s expression. They both knew that Nico hadn’t truly been what one would consider “happy” for years even if the later years had been better than his early teenage years.

“What kind of question is that?” He could hear people inside starting to gather in the main room to prepare for the countdown to midnight. 

“A serious one.” Percy even looked the part, eyes a little stormy as he kept his jaw tight. “Are you happy, yes or no?” 

“I…” Nico fumbled on his words, but Percy didn’t give him much time to come up with a clever excuse.

“I’ve been talking to Jason, dude. Neither of us really had any idea you were so miserable on campus.” 

Perhaps it was a good thing that Jason was on the other side of the country. Otherwise, Nico would have to leave his own house, track down his older friend, and gently kill him in cold blood. 

But of course he was a little more than miserable. While he excelled in his classes, he was still away from home (and therefore Hazel) and his friends were all attending different schools. There was really only so much Will could do on the weekends he managed to come and visit from Columbia, and even those visits felt far too short. More than anything, he didn’t expect Jason to tell Percy and he didn’t expect Percy to care about it. He felt his defenses raise as he straightened up, staring Percy in the eye and tilting his chin up defiantly.

“It really doesn’t matter,” he said coolly. “Another three and a half years and I can move somewhere else. It’s no big deal.”

There was a derisive snort that followed. Percy didn’t seem to buy it at all, given that he settled for leaning forward to bring himself a few inches from Nico’s face. 

“It’s kind of a big deal, di Angelo. Ever think that we don’t like hearing about you suffering?” 

“It’s _not_ suffering,” Nico argued, making the foolish decision to press back and jam the heel of his hand into Percy’s shoulder to push him against the balcony. Percy, being much taller and bulkier, didn’t move that much but the action still made Nico feel better. “I’m fine, I don’t need you and Jason feeling bad for me, and this is a stupid conversation.” 

“Nico,” Percy said firmly. He looked angry for a moment before the frustration fizzled out and left him staring at Nico with a mix of sympathy and curiosity. “...I’m sorry I’ve been bad about keeping in touch.”

It wasn’t exactly what he had expected. He and Percy were friends, shared a lot of mutual friends, and yes, when he first went to school he’d done well with sending emails and texts and posting funny things to Nico’s Facebook wall even though Nico claimed to never check it. As the years went on, updates from Percy were a little less and he really only saw him during school breaks. This year...truthfully, he couldn’t recall the last time he and Percy really had a chance to talk besides now. For a short while, especially last year, he’d resented Percy a bit for the lack of communication and updates. With a semester of college under his belt now it made a little more sense. Nico struggled just to juggle his classes, his homework, and the normal things like eating and sleeping and keeping his friends updated with a weekly “I’m still alive” email. Knowing that Percy had classes, homework, the swim team and his fraternity...it made a lot more sense.

He wouldn’t say that he forgave Percy, exactly, but the apology helped a little.

“This isn’t about feeling bad for you,” Percy continued. “We’re worried because we’re your friends.” He tilted his head back to stare at the stars, maybe seeking out that constellation he’d pointed out earlier. “In a way, I’m kinda glad Dad dragged me here tonight. It’s been a while since it’s been you and me.” 

A while was an understatement, but given the fact Nico didn’t argue Percy took that as an agreement. He glanced down at his wristwatch, noticing the time before schooling his expression into something more innocent.

“Did you know that Annabeth gave me a whole lecture on New Year’s traditions in other countries? I asked her about Peru since she’d be going there right after the new year and she told me they believe in luck. I think she said something about how they’d wrap a doll in old clothes and then burn it to signify getting rid of the old and bringing and new and something else about eating grapes? I’m not really sure how grapes work as luck.” Nico opened his mouth cut him off, but Percy continued anyway. “The French celebrate with some special dinner made of goose and champagne, and the Japanese ring ancient bells 108 times and visit a shrine to pray to the first sunrise of the new year.”

“Percy, are you trying to make a point?” Nico finally interrupted as his patience wore thin.

“Yeah. Do you know what our New Year’s tradition is here?” 

Nico froze then, waiting for Percy to spring a punchline on him and finding nothing but a serious expression on the older boy’s face. With practiced ease, Percy wheedled Nico’s nearly-full glass of cider from his hand to dump half of it into his empty one before replacing the glass in Nico’s hand. 

“A toast to celebrate good will and a good new year,” he said, carefully clinking their glasses together before they both took a sip. Inside, Nico could hear the crowd of guests chattering as the clock ticked to 11:59pm. The TV in the gathering room was turned to the broadcast of the ball dropping in Times Square, but neither boy paid attention to it. 

“And a kiss for…” Nico stopped again, eyebrows furrowing not only because he wasn’t entirely sure, but because he had a hard time wrapping his head around the concept. He wasn’t stupid. He got what Percy was trying to imply, but: “Percy, you don’t have to--” 

He didn’t get much further than that as he felt warm, dry lips on his own. The cider was a little sticky-sweet but somehow Nico didn’t seem to mind even as his head spun. He kept his eyes open, staring at Percy who had bowed his head enough to reach Nico’s face. It was awkward, to say the least, given that Nico wasn’t moving and Percy hadn’t pulled back after a few seconds. When he did, he opened his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck while avoiding Nico’s eyes.

“And a kiss to strengthen ties. And ward off loneliness in the new year,” he explained faintly, ignoring the way his fingers fidgeted with the glass in his hand. “Listen, I know it’s a stupid tradition and I probably screwed it up by not doing it at midnight, but I think both of us could use with a little more good in the new year.” 

Nico didn’t say anything immediately. He could hear the sounds inside the house as everyone shuffled together, and he could hear his father’s loud voice carry as he started them in on their ten second countdown. Nico had ten seconds to figure out what tone he wanted to set for his new year. He didn’t believe in silly superstitions and traditions like this. That was Percy’s department to have hope in things that weren’t exactly hopeful. He couldn’t ignore the way Percy looked at him with puppydog eyes while he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. He couldn’t ignore the fact that Percy genuinely wanted to kiss him, wanted him to have a good year, wanted to make Nico feel better about the last few months.

Without another word, he stood on his toes and waited for the clock to strike midnight before returning the kiss. Both boys dropped their glasses (Percy on accident, Nico on purpose) as Nico’s hands grasped Percy’s shoulder and waist to draw him into a longer, more purposeful kiss. As the crowd inside exploded with a chorus of cheers and fireworks started up down in the city, Nico pulled back and gave Percy a sly smile.

“...so,” Percy said as he cleared his throat, a little more than surprised by the turn of events. “To strengthened ties?” 

“Sure, Jackson,” Nico laughed lightly. He stepped closer, pecking his lips to Percy’s once more. He felt Percy smile under his mouth and received another kiss in return. 

In a way, even if there wasn’t much romantic thought behind the action it _did_ make Nico feel better. It made him feel a little more hopeful for the future knowing that he wouldn’t be forgotten and that people would still care. He almost missed Percy talking over the fireworks ringing in the air and he blinked as he stepped back.

“What?” he asked.

“I was saying...I’m thinking maybe I should come up with Will on some of those weekends he visits. What do you think? You know. Just to keep strengthening ties.” 

This time when Nico pushed his shoulder, it was to wipe the stupid smirk off of Percy’s face, and when he kissed him again it was to cut off the laughter Percy let out in response to Nico’s expression. 

If Nico had his way, he would be upstairs right now trying to ignore the celebration throughout the city and grumbling about the bright lights from the fireworks. He’d be curled up under his comforter probably watching the Nightmare Before Christmas by now since it was really the only film he knew by heart and didn’t have to hear perfectly to know what was going on. He’d be texting Jason and Piper and Will and Reyna “happy new year” and idly wondering where Hazel and Frank had sneaked off to while waiting for everyone to shut up. 

For once, Nico was grateful not to get his own way. This, he decided, was much, much better.


End file.
